Making Memorable Talks

Basic Business Cents

“When you give a talk, there are only three things the audience will remember-the introduction, the stories, and the conclusion.” Roxanne Emmerich, who is a very good professional speaker, told me this surprising and somewhat disillusioning news. People put their heart and soul into content and to think people only remember the stories. But people can relate to the stories and they hold their attention. It is somewhat akin to advertising, which should stress benefits and not the features of a product or service. People are interested in what the product/service does for them and not much on how it is done. In other words, speak to your audience and not to yourself.

The next bit of advice Roxanne gave me was how to prepare the talk and I have found this really works. Take a clean sheet of paper and draw three circles of about an inch and a half in diameter equally spaced on the paper. Divide your message into three main issues or categories of the talk.Then start writing the points you wish to make radiating out from the appropriate circle. I find that my mind does not function serially and my thoughts that come to mind do not lend themselves to follow an outline form but are random. With the circle concept, as thoughts come to my mind, I write them down on the circle where they fit. Don’t worry about the order of the thoughts at this point; just capture the ideas.

When you have exhausted your thoughts, start writing. You can put the categories (circles) in proper order and also points around the circumference of the circle in order. Now you can draft that memorable introduction and conclusion. I have found this really helps get started and get it done. It always helps to get another person to proof read because our minds sometimes read what they expect to read and we miss things in our own writing.

Now comes the delivery. I once attended a leadership training seminar for a major political party in Washington DC and an item on the agenda was delivering speeches. We were taught any talk worth listening to is worth learning by the speaker. The next speaker on the agenda was the Speaker of the House and he read his entire talk! I doubt that anyone remembered anything he had to say. Memorizing an entire talk is not easy so, unless we have a teleprompter, we need a prop. Go back to that sheet of paper with the circles and that one sheet is all you need. It is a sort of a mind map and you can glance at it very quickly and pick up the next point that you wish to make or elaborate on. You will be surprised at how much easier it is to find your place on the mind map than it is on an outline form. You may wish to redraw it with black ink and put the items in order around the circles to make it easier.

Additionally, make eye contact with the audience and talk, don’t preach to them. Act like you are enjoying yourself and the audience will enjoy the experience as well.

Follow-up is also important. Provide members of the audience with a way to contact you later to expand your reach. I use a bookmark as a handout with useful information and my contact information. It is more likely to be kept than a business card and less costly than a pen. Send thank you notes to everyone who helped you and they are more likely to do it again.

P.S. This three-circle method of drafting a talk also works for writing a paper and even for a newspaper column.

Another Roadblock for Small Business

The Owner Operator Independent Driver Association reported that buried deep in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act-a 906 page law also known as the Health Care Overhaul Bill-was a new requirement for all business owners to submit a separate 1099 form for every single business-to-business transaction that totals more than $600 in a given year. For a small-business trucker, that could amount to hundreds of 1099 forms every year-forms for every fuel stop, repair service, parts provider, or restaurant.

This is not just a problem for truckers; it applies to all small businesses. Most would have to add staff to document all expenditures, originate and distribute 1099s, and collect and process 1099s from customers. Most would not be able to afford this additional expense and would have to close their doors.

Now imagine the additional staff the Internal Revenue Service would require to process all the 1099s and auditing. We already have 4 out of 10 families in non-farm employment that have at least one member working in a government job.

Fortunately, there is already acknowledgment in Congress for the need to repeal the upcoming Form 1099 requirement. Senators from Nebraska and Florida have introduced amendments to repeal or limit the 1099 requirement. Each amendment will require 60 votes; let us hope they succeed.

Small Business is Key to Our Economy

A leading Park Rapids banker has said he believes that the economy will not turn around until the housing market turns around. With the foreclosure rate increasing around 17% over last year, this is not encouraging. Taking that thinking a step further, one could say the housing market will not turn around until more jobs are available. In August of 2010, the United States had an unemployment rate of 9.6% while Minnesota was better at 7.0%. More jobs would mean more income and therefore more spending for homes and other necessities.

The fastest and most sustainable way to increase jobs is through small businesses. The Small Business Administration defines a small business as having fewer than 500 employees, although the definition does vary somewhat by industry. Details can be found at www.sba.gov/size. Nationwide, small firms represent 99.7% of all employer firms and over half of all private sector employees. They pay 44% of total U.S. private payroll and have generated 64% of net new jobs over the past 15 years. They produce 13 times more patents per employee than large firms. From these statistics it is plain we need to encourage and help small businesses succeed.

Statisticians will tell you that one-time events such as federal stimulus infusions are “special causes” and are not sustainable, as they do not change the process or system. To change the system, we need to understand the problems of small businesses.

Seven out of ten new employer firms last at least two years, and about half last five years. Very small firms with fewer than 20 employees annually spend 45% more per employee than larger firms to comply with federal regulations.

Premium increases and administrative costs of health insurance for employees is an ever-increasing challenge for small business. The new health-care law impact is yet to be fully understood but early indications are that it will heighten the problem, not solve it for small business.

Patricia Schaefer writing for Business Knowhow lists seven reasons for business failure.

1. You start your business for the wrong reasons, i.e., make money or not have to have a boss rather than a strong passion for the work, drive, and initiative.

2. You have not developed strong management and leadership skills.

3. You have insufficient capital and have not developed a long-range financial plan to fully understand how much capital you will need and when.

4. You have not selected the optimum location to reach your target customers.

5. Lack of planning. You will need a business plan for at least three years including marketing, operations, human resources, and financial plans.

6. Overexpansion. A little success at one location does not mean you will automatically be successful at other sites. Controlled growth is important to make sure you do not overextend your capabilities in marketing, staffing, financing, etc.

7. You do not understand how to capitalize on social marketing techniques. A professionally designed and managed web site is mandatory as a minimum.

Solving these problems of small businesses is key to job creation and therefore economy. Some are difficult like the administrative costs of regulations and insurance and may be out of our hands. Others can be solved with help. Free counseling is available from SBDC and SCORE to help with development of the business plans and management development. Free templates can be downloaded by going to www.score.org, clicking on Business Tools, and then clicking on the desired template. Sharing the plans and continuing discussions with local bankers will provide guidance on financial matters.

It is key to our economy for our small businesses to survive and thrive. To do this, they can take advantage of free resources on a continuing basis to help them improve, grow, and provide more jobs.

Dr. Deming used to put forward a theory in his famous seminars about jobs that has some relevance to this discussion. He said if you work to improve the quality of your processes (including your management process), your costs will decrease and your product/service will improve, your productivity will increase, you will capture more market share with better quality and lower price, you will stay in business, and provide jobs and more jobs. He would go on to say, “so simple.”